Permanent Winter

The coldest winter in more than a century engulfs the city of Nepenthe, California. Men, women and children vanish in the night without a trace. Haunting visions torment Joshua, a young man who believes his purpose is to find out who or what is behind these disappearances.

Deep in the underbelly of Nepenthe, California, an ageless evil stalks the night, killing without mercy, drawing weak and strong alike into its eternal embrace…and this frigid winter the evil is spreading like a black plague that threatens to swallow the city whole.

THE QUESTION WILL BE ASKED OF YOU. . . .

The only thing standing in its way is twenty-two-year-old Joshua, who sets out on a mission to destroy the ancient evil…and thus begins his dizzying journey into the heart of darkness, where Joshua navigates a nightmare world of clubs and caves, sex and madness, pain and pleasure, life and death…

PREPARE YOUR ANSWER. . . .

…and comes face to face with a horror that will test his very will to live and drive him past the point of madness and into something else entirely…something far worse.

Permanent Winter is a macabre roller-coaster ride of terror that will send chills up your spine.

Grant Palmquist is the author of the science-fiction novel Azure and four horror novels: A Song After Dark, Permanent Winter, Dirge, and The Seer. His short stories have appeared in Chizine, Dogmatika, and Underground Voices.

He lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife, and is currently at work on a novella entitled Sinkhole.

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Reviews

Review by:
Angie Lenkevich
on Aug. 30, 2014 :
Skye and Blane are vampires that prey on everyone no matter the gender. Skye keeps asking for a baby but Blane says that they can't have baby because it wouldn't work. Skye refuses to believe Blane. Hank is down on his luck especially since his divorce and estrangement from his son Joshua. Hank doesn't know what to do with his life now. He's only going thru the motions anyway. Joshua is searching for God and getting no answers anyway. Joshua meets Ruth which changes everything for him. He just doesn't know it yet. Ruth becomes a light in Joshua's world. Will Skye get what she wants? Will Hank remain lost? Will Joshua continue to seek God? Your answers await you in Permanent Winter.

I gotta admit that Mr. Palmquist writes riveting book from first page to last page. He doesn't write your typical horror books but creates uniquely inspired works that suck you in and don't let go either. I'm definitely looking forward to more of Mr. Palmquist's work in the future.
(reviewed 2 years after purchase)

Review by:
Brian Bigelow
on July 29, 2013 :
This book is filled with characters that are unsavory and they do rather violent things. The darkness was unrelenting, I felt. You just don't seem to get a break from beginning to end. It actually seemed kind of boring as I read along. I was expecting, because it's horror, for there to be some suspense in the story. Unfortunately, I can't say there was much of it.
(reviewed 5 months after purchase)

Review by:
Tanya Rogers
on April 16, 2013 :
This book has a lot of potential, but was very hard to get into. A few of the charactors were your basic run of the mill vampire. I did like the charactor of Joshua and his love story with Ruth. I would have liked more on them. I felt the story bounced around a lot with many different POV's. I feel there could have been so much more background provided on the charactors. Why was Hank so infatuated with lust and rage?The plot twist was good, but then filtered away. The book does end in a way that leaves it open to another one.
(reviewed 26 days after purchase)

Skye the master; a classic vampire of focus and attraction, has exerted near total control over his victims through deception. His vampire minions and undercurrent of human night life have set up an underground dedicated solely to harvesting blood for vampire consumption.

Joshua’s background is rooted in God and family, and his hope for humanity is at low ebb. Joshua, now a victim is caught up with the vampires on the fringes of civilization. Joshua becomes an old-world vampire hunter of his own trials and Skye. Descriptive dialogue; in this ever expanding earthy vampire world, drives this plot moving the story quickly with less narrative.

Joshua who, still feels human, is under the Master's thrall. Joshua’s past supports him as he strives to step into freedom. The plot barrels forward with increasing momentum and the authors' knack for thoughtful horror and striking imagery remains intact.

Review by:
Debra Armbruster
on March 30, 2013 :
Permanent Winter by Grant Palmquist
This story had real potential. There were classical references (Nepenthe,The Hero's Quest), time-honored themes (coming of age, questions of faith), and glimpses of sophisticated vocabulary (aphotic was a new one for me and perfect for a book dealing in shadows!) - all hallmarks of books I enjoy. But the references were a bit in-your-face, the themes touched on but not fully explored, and the vocabulary a flirtation which crept into play about halfway through the novel.
Grant Palmquist has the makings of a talented author, and this is clearly an early book. Sexual references abounded (I now have a pretty good idea of how to get into a peepshow... and how to score the grand finale), but they were more sophomoric than titillating. Joshua's (character) angst felt very real, but also a bit young, and I waited in vain for his psychotic break (budding schizophrenia?). Characters flitted in and out, and anyone could be killed off at any time, so it was difficult to become attached. Everything was gearing up for the war between Mallory and Ron to begin, and then the story abruptly ended. Tension built but met with ambiguity rather than resolution. Kind of a let down.
Then again, maybe I'm not the intended audience. I'm picky (particularly in horror/fantasy), and have look for a certain elegance in horror. But it is easy to critique and not so easy to write. I applaud Mr. Palmquist for adding to the cannon of vampire tales, and doubt that this will be the end of the saga or the characters of Permanent Winter.
(reviewed 8 days after purchase)